This invention relates to the decontamination of a surface which has been contaminated with a toxic agent. The sorbent used for the decontamination is a ground material having a specified maximum particle size. The material, prior to grinding, has either been functionalized with a strong base or has had a strong base or Lewis acid imbibed therein.
There have been numerous approaches to the problem of decontaminating a surface which has been contaminated with a toxic agent such as a choking agent, (i.e. phosgene, diphosgene, and chlorine); blood agents such as hydrogen cyanide; vomiting agents, for example diphenylchloroarsine; nerve agents such as Sarin (isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate); and blister agents such as nitrogen mustards. Early attempts at decontamination involved materials such as a salve containing, as its active ingredients, sodium hydroxide and phenol.
Other approaches for toxic agent decontamination involved the use of material such as carbon, or fumed silica or combinations thereof for the removal of toxic agents. Although these materials did, in fact, remove toxic agents, they were not effective in neutralizing the toxic agents so that the agent was actually transferred to another material which then had to be neutralized.
One very effective method for removing toxic agents from a surface, including human skin, is the use of a kit which contains an active ingredient AMBERGARD.RTM. XE-555 resin, obtained from Rohm and Haas Company of Philadelphia, Pa. This resin contains a carbonaceous adsorbent, a strong base anion exchange polymer in the hydroxide ion form, a strong acid cation exchange polymer in the hydrogen ion form, amorphous silica and water. The AMBERGARD.RTM. XE-555 resin was incorporated into a kit referred to as the M-291-Skin Decontaminating Kit. This kit has been accepted by the United States military and has been supplied to the United States military for use under actual battle conditions.
Although the M-291 kit is a great advance in the art and is now considered the state of the art skin decontaminating kit, it was believed that even more efficacious materials for removing toxic agents could be developed and would be desired by the military.